It might not be as important as Kate and William's soon to be wedding, but can they boast that they are marrying for peace? Can they say their marriage is uniting conflict stricken peoples? I think not. Allow me to introduce the first beneficiaries of the Kyrgyz cash for peace program that was initiated in the southern city of Kara-Suu. Arsten Kalbaev, and ethnic Kyrgyz, and Zilola Jamalidinova, an ethnic Uzbek, have come together to profess their love for one another and peace.

The program was initially started to persuade local teachers from leaving the region. By giving them financial incentives, a whopping 100,000 soms ($2,100),and a chance to create the best PR for Kyrgyzstan the people jumped right to it. The local mayor was quoted as saying that his ambitions were to "strengthen interethnic concord in the district". Later on the program was extended to offer the same benefits to all mixed couples.

In mid-June last year, violent clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the southern region of Osh and Jalal-Abad killed more than 400 people.